Most agency proposals are written in the wrong order. They open with the agency's story, move through a credentials section and a wall of logos, reach the client's actual problem somewhere around page seven, and hide the price on the last page as though it were embarrassing.
The client reads it the other way round. They turn to the price first, then look for evidence that you understood what they told you, and only then decide whether your credentials matter. A proposal built in the order the client reads it is a proposal that gets a decision.
Start with what they told you
The first page should be the client's situation in their own words: what they want to change, why now, and what happens if nothing changes. Use the phrases they used in the briefing call. When a marketing manager forwards the proposal to their director, this is the page that proves the agency listened.
If you cannot write that page, you are not ready to write the proposal. Go back and ask. A short second call to confirm the objective is a sign of seriousness, not weakness, and it often reveals the thing the client did not say the first time.
A structure that holds
The order below works for most retainer proposals. The free client proposal template on our templates page follows it, if you want a starting point.
- What you told us. The situation, the goal and the deadline, in the client's language.
- What we will do. The approach in a paragraph, then the phases, with timing.
- How we will measure it. Two or three measures tied to the goal, and when they will be reported.
- The team. Named people, their roles, and how much of their time the account gets.
- Relevant work. Two or three examples, each with one line on the result.
- Investment. The price, the options, and what is included.
- Next steps. What the client needs to do to start, and by when.
Notice what is missing: the history of the agency, the values statement and the full client list. If they matter, one line in the team section covers them. Nobody has ever chosen an agency because its proposal had more pages.
Show the first ninety days
A retainer is a long commitment, and the client is buying something they cannot inspect in advance. The most persuasive thing you can give them is a concrete picture of the first three months: what happens in week one, what they will see by the end of the first month, and what will be different by the end of the third.
This does two jobs. It makes the retainer feel tangible rather than abstract, and it sets expectations early, which protects you later when the client wonders why results are not arriving in week two.
Present the price as a decision, not a bill
How the price appears matters almost as much as the number. A single figure invites a yes or no, and no is easier. Two or three options invite a choice between yeses.
- Build options by scope, not by discount. Each tier should include more work, not the same work for less.
- Name the tiers after what they achieve, not after metals or sizes.
- Put the option you recommend in the middle, and say plainly that it is the one you recommend and why.
- State what each option excludes. Media spend, influencer fees, filming and extra revision rounds are the usual ones.
- Say whether prices include VAT, the minimum term, the payment terms, and how long the proposal is valid.
Keep all of the pricing in one place. A finance team that has to assemble the total from three sections of a document will come back with questions, and every question adds a week. The test is whether the investment page could be forwarded on its own and still make sense.
A proposal the client can forward to their finance team without a call is a proposal that moves.
Once the client chooses, turn the chosen option into a formal quotation and a statement of work. The quotation fixes the price and the validity date. The statement of work fixes the deliverables, the revision rounds and the change process, which is where the margin on a retainer is actually protected. Our free quotation generator and statement of work template cover both.
Agree the decision date in the room
The follow-up starts before the proposal is sent. At the end of the briefing or presentation, ask two questions: who else needs to see this, and when do you expect to decide? Then write both answers down and repeat them in the email that carries the proposal.
That turns the follow-up from a nervous check-in into a date both sides already agreed. If the decision date passes, you are not chasing. You are asking about something they told you would happen.
A follow-up that adds something
The weakest follow-up is the one that says just checking in. It asks the client to do work, replying, without giving them anything. A better follow-up carries something useful.
- An answer to a question they raised in the meeting, which you said you would come back on.
- A short note on something relevant that has happened since, in their market or their category.
- A one line summary of the options, for the person who has not read the whole document.
- A clear, polite question on the agreed date: are you still planning to decide this week, and is there anything missing?
Keep the follow-ups on a schedule, from one person, and stop after a set number. Silence after three well spaced, useful messages is an answer, and it is better to treat it as one than to keep writing.
Learn from the ones you lose
When a proposal loses, ask why, briefly and without argument. Most clients will tell you, and the answers cluster quickly: the price, the team, the timing, or an incumbent who was never really leaving. Keep a short record of each outcome and the reason. Within a year it will tell you more about how to write the next proposal than any template.
In Wiro, a quotation is one of the finance document types, issued in the client's currency alongside the invoices that follow it, so the price you won the work at stays visible when the retainer starts.
